North Jetty (Hikkaduwa) Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight about it—if you’re after decent waves around Hikkaduwa for the next couple of weeks, you’re in for a long wait. The forecast for North Jetty (Hikkaduwa) doesn’t offer a single day I’d truly recommend paddling out. We’re looking at a good two-week stretch of nothing worthwhile, so don’t get your hopes up for any standouts.

Starting off on Wednesday the 9th—it’s poor. There’s a bit of swell, around 3ft from the southwest with a 15-second period, but the wind’s blowing straight onshore from the west at 20 km/h and there are thunderstorms around. The water’s running about 84°, a touch warmer than average for the time of year. The energy in the water is moderate—around 406—but it’s messy and not doing the break any favors. That afternoon the swell drops to about 2ft; still poor.

Thursday and Friday the 10th and 11th see a bit more size—4ft to 5ft, mostly from the southwest/south-southwest with long periods up to 18 seconds. The long-period groundswell is nice, but with the onshore wind and storms, the surf is only marginal. Wave energy is up into strong territory—over 1000 and up to 1944—but it’s just choppy and confused. Not worth the effort.

The weekend brings more size. Saturday the 12th sees 6ft to 6ft of SSW/SW swell, with energy around 1997 to 2219—that’s strong, no question—but the wind’s still blowing 20 km/h from the west/southwest, and the storms aren’t moving off. Marginal at best, and it’ll be a battle out there. Sunday the 13th backs down a bit to 5ft to 5ft, but the story’s the same: onshore wind, thunderstorms, marginal conditions.

At the start of next week, the 14th and 15th, the swell pulses again—Monday morning has 5ft from the south-southwest with an 18-second period, and Tuesday jumps to 8ft from the west-southwest. But Tuesday’s swell has a short period of only 9 seconds, and the wind is cross-onshore and choppy. That 8ft is getting into expert-only territory anyway, but with that wind and short period, it’s going to be a close-out mess. Honestly looks more like a kite-surfing day than a paddle-surfing day.

The rest of the run, from the 16th right through to the 24th, is more of the same. Swell sizes bounce between 3ft and 6ft, but the wind stays onshore or cross-onshore, and the forecasts keep calling it “poor.” A couple of glimmers—the 16th afternoon has 3ft with an 18-second period, but still onshore wind. The 22nd has 6ft with a weak 7-second period, which is just junk. And the 24th afternoon shows 3ft with a 19-second period, but again, the wind ruins it.

The bottom line: North Jetty is a point break that wants a clean SW swell with offshore or light winds, and we just don’t get that in this window. The crowds could be an issue if it ever cleaned up, but that’s not the problem right now. It’s just a poor stretch, plain and simple. The spot is fairly consistent, so this kind of dry spell usually passes, but this time it’s looking like two full weeks of nothing.

Stay patient. Don’t force it. When the wind switches, this place can absolutely go off, but for now, it’s not happening. I’ll keep an eye on the charts, but don’t expect much until at least the last weekend.

Rusty.

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